Cool Business Uses for the iPad

Tables

vulam.kd

March 22, 2023

[ad_1]

Apple’s iPad is the first real success for a tablet in the corporate worldand, with the imminent release of the iPad 2, that success seems bound to grow.
Not quite a full computer but more than a smartphone, its uptake in the business world has been surprising. Businesses are finding no shortage of ways to make Cupertino’s tablet a key tool in day-to-day and overall business operations. We are bombarded with the image of the savvy executive, doctor, or lawyer using the iPad in all of the obvious ways in which many businesses are incorporating the devices: as mobile portfolios for designers, architects and others in creative fields; as boardroom tools for executives for note taking and displaying presentations; and as a computer-on-the go for workers who need to be mobile, such as warehouse employees, salespeople, real estate agents and medical staff.

What isn’t talked about as much are the myriad creative and very specific ways other businessesespecially small businessesare using iPads. From an innovative coffee house in San Francisco to a bed and breakfast in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire, small business owners are finding ways to put the iPad to work. The benefits these businesses have seen include reduction in paper and printing costs, greater staff efficiency, better customer service, and as a user-friendly employee training tool. In addition, the aesthetically pleasing device lends a business a certain air of high-tech sophistication and elegance.

Watch our slideshow to see ten of the most creative ways small businesses are using iPads to enhance profit, drive down costs, and keep customers coming back.

1. 1. Cash Register

1. Cash Register

Stop by Sightglass Coffee in San Francisco and you may notice something besides the espresso machines: there are no cash registers. In place of a register, the coffee house uses an iPad mounted in an artsy wooden stand, as seen in the photo posted at the site LaughingSquid. With help from an iPad app called Square, the coffee shop does all its transactions through the iPad. Justin Morrison, one of the proprietors of Sightglass, said, “We run everything through Square and then consolidate our drawer at night.” Morrison says usability is the big benefit of using the iPad as a cash register. With an iPad on hand, it doesn’t make sense for the business to spend thousands on a Point-Of-Sale cash register system such as Aloha. Using the iPad has saved Sightglass money.

2. 2. Food Server

2. Food Server

Fast food gets faster. Stacked, a West Coast high-end burger chain, has at all 60 tables in each location an iPad mounted in a metal frame for diners to place their orders. Customers can view the menu and specials and even order customized items. Other industries are following this trend. Delta Airlines uses iPads at its JFK New York airport terminal to let customer to order food, check flights, and play games. Using the iPad in this manner helps businesses cut down on waitstaff, avoid the costs associated with hard-copy menus and updating them, and let customers more quickly transmit their culinary desires directly to the kitchenkeeping them happy and helping to increase the speed at which tables turn over.

3. 3. Appointment Book

3. Appointment Book

The Beauty Room is a beauty salon in Minneapolis that found a way to tame the task of scheduling client appointments. Gone is the dog-eared, tattered appointment book at the front desk. In its place, the salon has deployed a system that syncs with the sylists’ iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. Instead of having a full-time employee at the front desk, stylists, and clients can quickly interact with one another via iPads to set up, cancel, or change an appointment. Apps like Vagaro are available as scheduling software solutions for the iPad.

Some tonier salons have put iPads to another use: as replacements for magazines. Our Place, an upscale salon in Sydney, Australia, which caters to the likes of Kim Kardashian, hands out iPads to customers upon their arrival. The salon owner explains that the iPad is a great substitute for reading a magazine under the hair dryer.

4. 4. Sommelier

4. Sommelier

Since the iPad is such an elegant device, it’s not surprising that it would be used as a wine steward. California-based Jordan Winery distributed iPads to its employees who use them to educate and inform visitors about their wines. The award-winning winery, realizing the amazing potentials of the iPad for its business, went a step further to create marketing videos for restaurants with digital wine lists on iPads. The videos show two-minute vignettes in which the winemaker describes the style and taste profile of the wines, as well as cellar lifespan and suggested food pairings.

5. 5. Concierge

5. Concierge

The landmark Plaza Hotel in New York City has iPads in each of its guest rooms and suites. Guests can control their entire hotel experience through the device, including ordering room service, making restaurant reservations, requesting wake up calls and more. The iPads run Intelity Interactive Customer Experience (ICE) software. Hotel guests can even control the lights and temperature of a room via the iPad.

Five-star hotels are not the only entities in the hospitality industry using iPads. The Bernerhof Inn(Opens in a new window) is a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire that has gone high-tech, giving guests complimentary iPads during their stay.

6. 6. TV Studio Scripts

6. TV Studio Scripts

You may notice fewer television reporters shuffling notes in front of them during broadcasts. That’s because more studios are supplying anchors and other members of the news team with iPads. In an effort to go green and cut costs, WXFL, a television station in Albany, Georgia has given its news anchors iPads to replace paper scripts. The station states that it can save $2,000 a month on printing, paper, and repair costs.

Those who must present in the public eye are finding the iPad a handy substitute for a TelePrompTer, as well. Everyone from pastors to politicians is using the various prompting software available for the iPad such as Pro Prompter(Opens in a new window) to lend a hand with public speaking. In June of last year, the New York Daily News ran a picture showing New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg using the iPad(Opens in a new window) as a prompter during a speech.

7. 7. Car Salesman

7. Car Salesman

Mercedes Benz has equipped several of its car dealers with iPads, which are being used as sales tools. The iPads are equipped with Mercedes Benz’ software and gives salespeople information about different car models. The iPads also help quicken the credit-approval process. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to believe that smaller, independent car dealerships will soon follow suit.

8. 8. Synthesizer

8. Synthesizer

The iPad is making headway into the music industry. The most popular example is the all-iPad created album by virtual band, The Gorillaz. One of the apps it used is olsynth for iPad from olsonvox. Olsynth is described as a classic monophonic synthesizer with a clean and simple interface that allows for infinite sound design possibilities. On the same note, journalists, voiceover actors, and anyone who needs to record audio are finding iPads, despite their less than prime internal microphones, sufficient for audio recording.

9. 9. Trade Show Model

9. Trade Show Model

Trade shows are filled with articulate, attractive people pitching their companies’ good or services; fervently vying for attention from show attendees. Monetate, a company that provides site optimization solutions, recently blogged about the success of iPads at a trade show. “Before the iPad, the normal strategy for making sure everyone passing your booth could at least catch a glimpse of your demo was… to display it on a large screen mounted high enough to be seen above the fray. That meant many attendees cruised the aisles craning their necks, looking at screens rather than you, the person staffing the booth.” Enter the iPad and the company now has a device with a form factor conducive to interacting with attendees.

10. Furniture Delivery

Furniture Delivery

Arhaus Furniture is an Ohio-based furniture maker that has outfitted each of its delivery drivers with an iPad. The drivers carry iPads, which tap into the company’s CRM system. With the tablets, drivers can obtain customer signatures, display the company catalog and also play a thank-you video message from the company’s president. The company’s founder estimates that by eliminating paper, the company will save $10,000 in a year. Arhaus hopes iPad use will also cut down on fuel costs, customer service staff, and mileage.

[ad_2]

Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/news/cool-business-uses-for-the-ipad